Dental Pain

Dental Pain

Dental pain can range from mild to severe, from momentary to constant, from static to progressive, from spontaneous to provoked. Pain from a tooth can also be confused
with pain from the gum, pain from the sinus, pain from the muscles of the face, and pain from the jaw joint.

If you have ongoing, severe, or worsening pain you should contact a dentist and be seen as soon as you are able. In the meantime warm salt water rinses, cold compresses, or over the counter pain relievers may help. It is best to keep teeth apart (not touching, not clenching) and avoid chewing on the side that hurts. Sometimes it momentarily feels better to squeeze your teeth together or push your tooth with your tongue or finger, but this is not a good idea as it will increase pain when you stop. Avoid hot and cold liquids.

If you have mild or rarely occurring discomfort, make a mental note of what influences the pain to be able to describe your symptoms to your dentist. Time of day, frequency, duration, and especially information of what causes discomfort will help your dentist determine the cause.

There are very many fleeting and mild dental discomforts which seem to come and go fairly randomly. You should report these to the dentist, but a good many of these have no known cause and hence are not treated.